The Colorful History of Lipstick
Lipstick by definition is a cosmetic used to color lips, usually crayon-shaped and packaged in a tubular container. No individual inventor can be credited as the first to invent lipstick as it is an ancient invention. The history of lipstick, however, can be traced to the use of lipstick by crediting individual inventors for creating certain formulas and methods of packaging.
The actual term "lipstick" wasn't first used until 1880 though people were coloring their lips long before that date. Upper-class Mesopotamians from an historic region called Mesopotamia in the Middle East applied crushed semi-precious jewels to their lips while Egyptians made a red dye for their lips from a combination of iodine and bromine mannite to create a red-brown color.
Historians note the first cosmetic lipstick manufactured commercially occurred around 1884. Parisian perfumers had begun to sell lip cosmetics to their customers made from castor oil and beeswax. By the late 1890s the Sears & Roebuck catalog started to advertise and sell both lip and cheek rouge. Early lip cosmetics were not packaged in their familiar tubes we see used today. Lip cosmetics were then wrapped in silk paper placed in tinted paper tubes.
In 1915, Maurice Levy of the Scovil Manufacturing Company invented the metal tube container for lipstick which had a small lever at the side of the tube which lowered and raised the lipstick. Levy called his invention the "Levy Tube".
In 1923, James Bruce Mason, Jr. of Nashville Tennessee patented the first swivel-up tube. Since then, the Patent Office has issued countless patents for lipstick dispensers.
In 1927, French chemist, Paul Baudercroux invented a formula he called Rouge Baiser. It was considered to be the first kiss-proof lipstick! Ironically, rouge Baiser was so good at remaining on one's lips it was banned from the marketplace after being considered too hard to remove. Years later, in 1950, chemist Helen Bishop invented a new version of long-lasting lipstick called No-Smear Lipstick. It was commercially successful.
Another element of lipstick formulas was the lipstick's finish. Max Factor invented lip gloss in the 1930s. Like much of his other cosmetics, Max Factor "The Makeup of Make-Up Artists" first invented lip gloss to be applied to movie starlets though it was soon worn by regular consumers, as well.
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